Shloka 6

Devanagari script

वासुदेवो5थ दाशाहों बलदेव: ससात्यकि: । अभिमन्योस्तदा श्राद्धमकुर्वन्‌ सत्यकस्तदा,भगवान्‌ श्रीकृष्ण, बलदेव, सत्यक और सात्यकिने भी उस समय अभिमन्युका श्राद्ध किया

Transliteration

vāsudevo ’tha dāśārho baladevaḥ sa sātyakiḥ | abhimanyos tadā śrāddham akurvan satyakaḥ tadā ||

Translation

Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Then Vāsudeva (Kṛṣṇa), the Dāśārha (Balarāma), and Sātyaki performed the śrāddha rites for Abhimanyu at that time—honoring the fallen hero with the prescribed ancestral offerings and affirming the dharmic duty of remembrance and gratitude after the devastations of war.

Word by Word

वासुदेवःVasudeva (Krishna)

अथthen/now

दाशार्हःthe Dasharha (Krishna, descendant of Dasharha)

बलदेवःBalarama

सhe

सात्यकिःSatyaki

अभिमन्योःof Abhimanyu

तदाthen/at that time

श्राद्धम्śrāddha rite (funeral/ancestral offering)

अकुर्वन्they performed/did

सत्यकःSatyaka (name/epithet; as in the given text)

तदाthen/at that time

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśaṃpāyana

Vāsudeva (Kṛṣṇa)

Dāśārha (Balarāma)

Baladeva (Balarāma)

Sātyaki

Abhimanyu

Śrāddha (rite)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even after victory or survival in war, dharma requires honoring the dead through prescribed rites. Performing śrāddha expresses gratitude, repays moral debt to the fallen, and restores social-ritual order by acknowledging loss with reverence rather than triumphalism.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator Vaiśaṃpāyana reports that Kṛṣṇa (Vāsudeva), Balarāma (Dāśārha/Baladeva), and Sātyaki conduct Abhimanyu’s śrāddha—formal rites for the departed—marking communal mourning and honoring Abhimanyu’s sacrifice.